The Sri Lankan cricket board appointed Dinesh Chandimal as the new Test captain, while Upul Tharanga was named as the ODI and T20I captaincy on Wednesday post Angelo Mathews stepping down from the position across formats

The Sri Lankan cricket board appointed Dinesh Chandimal as the new Test captain, while Upul Tharanga was named as the ODI and T20I captaincy on Wednesday post Angelo Mathews stepping down from the position across formats following Sri Lanka's shock series defeat to Zimbabwe.

Mathews addressed a press conference on Wednesday morning to announce his successors. "Yes, there have been significant poor performances, and I'm humble enough to accept it.

In the past also there were instances where I wanted to step down but I didn't want to let the team down at that time, mainly because there were no replacements. The team's interests supercede the individuals.

"Now there are candidates to take over, and I'm sure they will be more successful than me. I also wanted to give my successor time to build a team for the 2019 World Cup."

Chandimal thanked Mathews and made a plea for the outgoing skipper to continue essaying a crucial role in the team for years to come.

"I'm very thankful to the job that Angie [Mathews] has done for us. Captaincy is not an easy job. He's a match-winner for us, and I have huge hopes that he will continue to be one in the coming years as well," Chandimal said.